


The Dark Prince (Eugene Season 3 AU)

by stories_by_tangled_dreamer



Series: Tangled the Series S3 AU: The Quest for Destiny [3]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dark Prince Eugene, Eugene Hurt/comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, The Brotherhood of the dark Kingdom, The Dark Kingdom, The Moonstone Opal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:00:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25514656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stories_by_tangled_dreamer/pseuds/stories_by_tangled_dreamer
Summary: Eugene has a dream of his late mother, whom he’s longed to meet ever since he learned about her. His dream also sets course for his own destiny...
Relationships: Cassandra & Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider (Disney), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Lance Strongbow, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Varian, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel, King Edmund/Irene(Fitzmom)
Series: Tangled the Series S3 AU: The Quest for Destiny [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1784800
Comments: 7
Kudos: 17





	1. The Dark Dream

**Author's Note:**

> In this AU, Eugene will have more involvement and a bigger role in the overall plot, and his identity as the Dark Prince will be expanded on. I previously posted this for Eugene Appreciation Week as a teaser, but made some modifications! I hope you enjoy!

Eugene shut his eyes and went into deep sleep, only to find himself back within the gloomy, lifeless walls of the Dark Castle as if he’d never left.

“Hello?” He asked while his voice echoed as he looked around him. “Blondie? Lance? Anybody?”

Confused, he wandered through the dark, coarse halls, only surrounded by the mosaic carvings of his ancestors. He scoffed. “Well it looks like I’m all alone in this creepy old place,” he muttered bitterly.

He almost reached the dining hall and there was still no one to be found. No one except…. Eugene found a woman standing across looking at him, smiling. This woman wore a long, flowing, dark purple dress and a shining, purple crystal necklace around her neck. She had serene, almond-shaped, dark eyes and a warm smile on her face.

“Mom?” Eugene barely let out a gasp as he saw the woman from the portrait standing right in front of him. His eyes burned with tears that he could hardly see in front of him. His mother’s smile grew as she opened up her arms for her son. Eugene, with tears streaming down his cheeks, ran straight for her warm hug and sobbed as he hugged her back. 

“Oh my dear boy,” his mother spoke softly as she stroked the back of his hair. “You’ve grown so much,”

Eugene let out a small laugh as he continued to sob. He slightly backed away as he wiped his tears. He looked at his mother longingly and lovingly.

“I wish I could have you in my life, mom,” He spoke with a broken voice. “More than anything, I would give to have you with me,”

“Oh son, I will always be with you, in here,” she spoke as she pointed towards her son’s heart. Eugene smiled as he sniffed, trying to breathe in after all his crying.

His mother’s smile started to diminish. She looked at her son curiously as she cupped his cheek. “What’s bothering you, son?” she asked. “You can tell me anything you want, you know that right?”

“Mom,” Eugene started. “We’ve been betrayed. Cass... she... she hurt Rapunzel, my friends. She took Rapunzel’s destiny, Mom. She took the moonstone. She violated our family, our legacy. Cass...she was like my sister...” Eugene sighed and looked away from his mother, not wanting her to meet her concerned gaze.

“Son, your ancestors spent centuries protecting the moonstone from those who sought it for corruption and power,” She spoke as she grabbed her son’s hand. “Don’t you think that now it has been taken, that maybe now, your destiny would be to take it back?”

Eugene gasped as he suddenly rose up in his bed. He breathed heavily and his skin felt sticky from all of his sweating. He cupped his face in his hands, then ran his fingers through his smooth hair, still processing everything from his emotionally intense dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more! Would also like to give writing credits for the dialog in the 3rd to last paragraph to my friend Monica! Huge thanks and shoutout to you for your helpful feedback as well!


	2. Irene-Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After having an intensely emotional dream about his late mother, Eugene goes straight to Edmund to hear her story and how they met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY!! I am so thankful to be able to overcome my intense writer's block to finally finish and update this chapter! I've been wanting a backstory for Fitzmom for soooo long and I'm glad I was able to come up with one I'm satisfied with! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did coming up with it!

The next morning, Eugene got up from his bed after hardly being able to finish his beauty sleep. Before heading out of his bedroom, he looked at his handsome face in the mirror to make sure his brows were pitch perfect and that he didn’t look as tired as he really felt. He grabbed his comb to coif his charming, brown hair and made sure his handsomeness was at full effect. Still, his morning routine did not take his mind off of his dream from last night. He should’ve applied his exfoliants and hair cream, but for the very first time, he wasn’t in the mood to finish his hygienic grooming. 

This isn’t the first time he’s dreamt about his mother since he got back from the Dark Kingdom. But he’s never seen her so clearly or spoken to her before like he just did in this dream. And now, more than anything, he wanted answers. He barely knew anything about her besides what she looked like from her portrait and that she died because of the moonstone’s magic. But he wanted to know more about her; what was she like as a person?

Eugene put down his comb and walked straight out of his bedroom door. He skipped the idea of going for breakfast with Rapunzel and her family and headed straight for the guest room where his father was staying. Edmund, who was already sitting on his bed, looked up at his son curiously.

“Uh, Edmund! Um... I meant Dad,” Eugene started awkwardly. Although he finally accepted Edmund as his dad after the Mount Saison father-son trip, he still didn’t fully know how to act around him comfortably and or call him dad all the time. He’s just never had a real parent before; who was now right in front of him after an entire lifetime. He took a deep breath and reminded himself of why he came in the first place.

“Uh Dad, I…” 

“Son?” Edmund asked, with worry building up in his eyes. “Is something wrong?”

After another moment of awkward silence and Eugene scratching the back of his head, he took another deep breath and then started. “I want to know more about my mother. Can you please tell me what she was like?”

Edmund was taken aback by the abrupt request his son was asking of him. At first, he didn’t know how to feel or if he wanted to talk about his late wife right away. But then, he sighed. He knew it was a matter of time before Eugene would ask that kind of question, and he had the right to know about the women who birthed him. 

“Your mother, Irene, she was the apprentice librarian at the Dark Castle when I was still the Prince. I went to the library often to study the moonstone and Dark Kingdom history to prepare for becoming king one day and that was how we first met,” As Edmund reminisced and told Eugene the story of Irene, his memories drifted back to the day they first talked. 

******************************************************************************************************************************************

Irene sorted through books in the history section while Edmund sat at a nearby table focusing on his studies. She not only made sure that the books were sorted in alphabetical order but with the duster in her hand, she swept off any fleck of dust she found on the books or the shelves they were in. Suddenly, she heard a loud grunt and looked towards the table where the prince sat. She got down from the ladder and walked over to the puzzled prince to check on him.

“Is everything alright?” She asked.

"Nothing in this book makes sense!" Yelled Edmund, beating his fist against the book. Without hesitation, Irene quickly grabbed the book, with Edmund loosening his fists off of it.

"Hey! Watch it!" She yelled as she examined the book, trying to unwrinkle the pages. She checked for other potential marks his ginormous hands may have made. Edmund looked at her curiously.

"Are you ok?" He asked. "I mean it’s just a book," Irene took her eyes off the book and frowned at him, causing him to shrink back in terror and question if he offended her. Irene then remembered that she was talking to the Dark Prince, so she soothed her nerves down.

“Well, as the apprentice librarian it’s my job to make sure these books are taken care of and in good shape, your highness,” Irene responded calmly. As she desperately tried to flatten out the page from the punch marks, she recognized the language underneath. “This is Latin,” she said softly. Edmund looked at her still confused but fascinated. Irene finally sat down next to Edmund at the table and began reading the lines out loud, while Edmund still looked puzzled. Once she noticed the look on his face, she started translating.

“This is all legends of the moonstone’s power,” she started. She continued to tell him about the moonstone’s destructive nature, as well as the corruptive thoughts it can impact people with, especially those who were at their most vulnerable state. As Edmund listened to her, he was intrigued by her vast intelligence. He was also very grateful for the help he’s been getting with his studies.

******************************************************************************************************************************************

As Edmund reminisced his first time meeting Irene, he smiled, then he looked at Eugene longingly. 

“Your mother was so smart and so passionate about books. Although she took them way too seriously,” He said the last part in a lower voice then chuckled. After a brief smile, sadness consumed his face once again.

“Tell me more about her, please,” Eugene begged. He felt a tinge of guilt for adding more to his father’s pain, but growing up without parents, and never being able to meet his mother, he just couldn’t hold back from knowing her, not now at least. Edmund took a deep breath and continued.

“Well, from that day forward, she helped me a lot with my studies. At first she thought of me being strange, which I still don't understand why," Edmund spoke in confusion as Eugene scratched the back of his head and whistled awkwardly.

"And I thought she was too uptight, but with time, we both learned to look beyond our first impressions,” Edmund continued as his smile was starting to come back and his face started to glow. “We eventually started talking about other things besides my studies and got to know more about each other. Irene was not only so intrigued by the Dark Kingdom’s magic and filled with curiosity about the moonstone, but she was kind, selfless, and had a witty sense of humor just like yours,” Edmund chuckled a little as he remembered. “She eventually took me out on dates disguised as “study sessions” and we would sneak near the Dark Kingdom statues for picnics. Then, on her next birthday, I declared my love for her with this,” He clutched the crystal necklace closer towards his heart. “I was so delighted she felt the same and about a year later, she said yes to my proposal,” Edmund finished the sentence with a warm smile that passed on to Eugene, who was dreaming of having that moment with Rapunzel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Stay tuned!


End file.
